List of former championships in World Wrestling Entertainment
was last held by Layla, the oldest championship in WWE history (created in 1956) and recently retired in September 2010.]] In professional wrestling, championships are competed for in scripted storylines by a promotion company's roster of contracted wrestlers. World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is a Stamford, Connecticut-based sports entertainment company primarily focused on professional wrestling. The promotion was founded in 1952 as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC). In the company's 50 year history, over twenty different unique championships have been operated and contended for. These titles consisted of divisional, special stipulations, and weight-class championships. Of these titles, nineteen have been retired and succeeded through replacement titles or title unifications. The first retired championship was in 1967 with the WWWF United States Tag Team Championship (created in 1953), while the most recent was the WWE Women's Championship (created in 1956) in August 2010. The following is a compilation of the company's former championships that were once active and contended for by its roster. History 1950-1960 In 1953, CWC joined the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) as a subsidiary. During this time, CWC wrestlers could compete for championships operated by the NWA. In 1958, the CWC created the United States Tag Team Championship (the first title ever owned by WWE), which inaugural champions Mark Lewin and Don Curtis won in April of that year. In 1963, CWC was renamed as the WWWF and ended its partnership with the NWA. To reflect the changes, the WWWF introduced its World Heavyweight Championship (WWE's second overall championship and current WWE Championship), while the WWWF acronym was added to the United States Tag Team Titles. The title was disbanded in 1967 without a formal announcement by the WWWF, and thus, the first World Tag Team Championship (and first title overall) to be retired by the promotion. Ten years later, the company retired its first individually contested title, the WWWF United States Championship, also without a formal announcement. 1970-1990 was sanctioned in 1979 and retired in 1981.]] The WWWF formed a partnership with New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF), and Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) between the 1970s and 1980s, and as a result, created and lent titles to these promotions. In the 1980s, the promotion renamed itself to the WWF and ended its partnership with NJPW and UWF. This resulted in the retirement of one UWF and three NJPW lent titles: the WWF International Heavyweight Championship (UWF), and the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship, WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship, and WWF International Tag Team Championship (NJPW). The company also ceased operations of three short-lived titles: the WWF North American Heavyweight Championship (1979–1981), WWF Canadian Championship (1985–1986), and WWF Women's Tag Team Championship (1983–1989). Despite their names, the geographic-name-based titles were not restricted to wrestlers from that location. During the 1990s, the WWF ended its relationship with the UWA; as a result, the WWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship was abandoned, while the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship (which UWA possessed) was reactivated in the United States for use by the WWF. In 1996, the Million Dollar Championship, a title created by Ted DiBiase, was retired, although it was never sanctioned by the WWF, but was reintroduced by Ted DiBiase Jr. 2000-present , introduced in 1971 as WWE's original tag team championship, was one of the most recent retired titles (August 2010).]] , sanctioned in 2001 after WCW's purchase, was retired that same year.]] In March 2001, the WWF acquired all assets of World Championship Wrestling (WCW), including its championships. Of these titles, the WWF operated the WCW World Heavyweight, World Tag Team, and Cruiserweight championships. In late 2001, WWF discontinued the WCW World Heavyweight and Tag Team Championships while the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship was retired in favor of the Cruiserweight, which would also be retired in 2008. In 2002 WWF was renamed to WWE and during this year, WWE discontinued the WWE Hardcore and European Championships after they were unified with the WWE Intercontinental Championship. WWE also acquired all assets of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in 2003, and implemented the ECW brand in 2006, along with the reactivated the ECW World Heavyweight Championship; however, when the brand closed in 2010, the title was retired after Ezekiel Jackson became the last champion on the final episode of the ECW on Syfy series. The World Tag Team Championship, established in 1971 as WWE's original tag team title, and WWE Tag Team Championship, introduced in 2002, were unified on April 9, 2009, maintaining separate title histories as the "Unified WWE Tag Team Championship". However, on August 16, 2010, the older title was retired in favor of keeping the newer title as the sole tag team championship contended for in WWE. The champions, The Hart Dynasty (David Hart Smith and Tyson Kidd) were awarded a new set of belts that represented the 2002 championship, and were thus recognized as the final holders of the original World Tag Team Championship. The WWE Women's Championship, established in 1956 as WWE's original women's title, and the WWE Divas Championship, introduced in 2008, were unified on September 19, 2010, maintaining the title history of the Divas Championship. The older title was retired in favor of keeping the newer title as the sole championship contended for in WWE by the Divas. The champion, Michelle McCool defeated Melina at Night of Champions (2010) to become the unifed champion marking her second reign as Divas Champion thus making Layla the final holder of the Women's Championship. Defunct championships See also *List of current champions in World Wrestling Entertainment Footnotes *A: – The title was officially abandoned by the WWF in 1989, though it was revived by NJPW for use in its promotion only; it was discontinued by NJPW in 1992. *B: – This is the date the WWF acquired WCW, in which WCW's assets were also acquired by WWF, including its titles. *C: – This (These) is (are) the final champion(s) recognized by WCW before the WWF bought WCW, who is (are) also recognized as the first champion(s) in which the title was operated in the WWF as a part of the storyline of The Invasion. *D: – This is the date the WWF began operating the title in the United States after ending its partnerships with the UWA and NJPW. *E: – This is the date the WWE launched the ECW brand, in which Rob Van Dam was awarded the title as a result of winning the WWE Championship on June 11, 2006. *F: - This is the date upon which WWE consolidated the unification of both its tag team championships, and continued to recognized only one championship to be contended in its tag team division. References ;General * ;Specific External links *WWE Official website *WWE title histories *Wrestling-Titles.com: WWE Category:World Wrestling Entertainment championships Category:Lists